# Miraleste High School

Miraleste High School was a public high school of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD), located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

## History

In the fall of 1968 the school was established. At its opening, the school had a Parent Teacher Association; in 1969 the association began allowing students to participate, and so it became the "Parent Teacher Student Association." In 1971 there were about 1,500 students at Miraleste High. That year, there were 1,368 people participating in the PTSA, including 870 parents and 498 students.
In 1977 several communities were rezoned to Miraleste from PVPUSD's other high schools, even ones in which those high schools were closer than Miraleste. This was despite community members arguing that Miraleste would have too many students.
Miraleste had only high school grades prior to 1986. In 1986, grades 7-8 were transferred from the closed Dapplegray Intermediate School to Miraleste High.
The girls' tennis team was described as a "dynasty" by Adam Martin of the Los Angeles Times.

### Closure

In 1986 residents received word that there was a plan to close Miraleste High, prompting an anti-closure protest which had an attendance of 800 people. A group called Committee to Save Miraleste High School was established. The pro-Miraleste High bloc advocated for closing the intermediate schools so all senior high schools would become combined intermediate and senior high schools. There was a group of parents who advocated to secede from PVPUSD as a result of proposals to close Miraleste.
In November 1987, the PVPUSD board of trustees decided to close Miraleste High; all board members chose to close Miraleste. The principal enacted a plan to ensure student morale would not decline too much.
The district had plans to remove Miraleste as it had the least number of students out of the three high schools. However, in 1987, a group of guardians and parents of students filed a lawsuit to keep the school open. By 1988 a court order required that the school stay open, and PVPUSD appealed that ruling. Miriam Vogel, a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, ordered that PVPUSD do an environmental impact study before it could make moves to permanently close Miraleste High.
In the meantime, the school had difficulty having the proper athletic leagues for its students, until an agreement was reached in August 1988. There was a feeling of instability in the athletic programs, as there was a lack of certainty on whether Miraleste would continue to operate.
In 1989 there was a deal offered, where Miraleste High would be used for intermediate school classes, but remain in operation. Some area residents had a negative characterization of the PVPUSD's deal. That year, after the environmental report was released, officials from Rolling Hills Estates stated that the district needs to deal with issues regarding vehicle traffic and parking, or otherwise such officials would oppose the closure of Miraleste.
In October 1990 PVPUSD began public hearings on the fate of Miraleste High. In December 1990 the board again decided to close Miraleste High, along with Palos Verdes High School, and consolidate them into Rolling Hills High School. Miraleste was to be changed into Miraleste Intermediate School, as per the deal, with the same fate for the former Palos Verdes High.